Women Want Access To Family Planning

Jul 24, 2013

“As CEO of WomanCare Global, a non-profit supply chain for reproductive care products, I’ve talked to thousands of women from almost every continent,” Saundra Pelletier writes in the Huffington Post’s “Global Motherhood” blog. “What women, and specifically mothers, want is astonishingly simple: to provide a better life for their children,” she states, adding, “They also know they can provide a better quality of life by taking control of their family planning and in turn, make the choice to empower their future.” She notes, “Families who have access to contraceptives tend to be healthier, wealthier and better educated,” and she writes, “With broad access to contraceptives, we could decrease … maternal deaths and … deaths of children under five.”

“More than 200 million women worldwide want to avoid pregnancy but don’t have access to contraceptives,” Pelletier continues. “WomanCare Global is combating these problems directly through a sustainable supply chain,” she states, adding, “We believe women everywhere should have access to real choice: a full range of quality family planning methods that work for every woman’s life stage and unique circumstance.” She describes the “hybrid for-profit/non-profit model” employed by the organization and concludes, “While a supply chain doesn’t sound glamorous, it’s a critical building block to improve the health, education and well-being of mothers, children and entire societies. If you want to improve the world, start by providing women with what they want” (7/23).